Mangareva language

At the 2017 census, only 24.8% of the population age 15 and older in the Gambier Islands still reported that Mangarevan was the language they spoke the most at home (down from 38.6% at the 2007 census), while 62.6% reported French as the main language spoken at home (up from 52.3% at the 2007 census), 4.9% reported Tahitian (down from 6.4% in 2007), and 4.6% reported some Chinese dialects (predominantly Hakka) (up from 3.5% in 2007). The ten years between 2007 and 2017, based on official census numbers, have seen a global decline in the number of Mangarevan-speaking adults (i.e. people aged 15 and older who reported that Mangarevan was the language they spoke the most at home): The larger portion of the population in the Gambier Islands speak French. ==History==

Mangarevan primarily shares commonalities with Cook Islands Māori, New Zealand Māori, Marquesan and Tahitian. The linguistic similarity with the New Zealand Māori can be traced back to the 1834 arrival of a New Zealand man who acted as a translator for French missionaries. Colonial and missionary influences from the past and in the present day have been large contributors to the attrition of language. == Phonology ==

Mangarevan has nine phonemic consonants: And five vowels: The absence of * is shared with most Polynesian languages; the absence of * is a characteristic shared with Rarotongan, Mangareva's phonology has been identified as a Marquesic derivative from Proto-Eastern Polynesian (PEP) and Proto-Central Eastern (PCE). are more common in Mangarevan language in comparison to any other Eastern Polynesian culture. For example, a PEP doublet like ('woman') becomes in Mangarevan. Furthermore, a modern Mangarevan (MGV) doublet is ('married woman' or 'wife'). == Orthography ==

The Mangarevan language uses a Latin-script orthography: == Vocabulary ==

Since the vocabulary of the Mangarevan language was gathered half a century before English and French dialects and influences, the language is considered "pure" because of the lack of adopted foreign words. Many of the words found in Mangarevan are, however, influenced by other Polynesian languages since the time period of Mangareva's settlement paralleled the wayfaring period of other Polynesian cultures. The transformation of the Gambier Islands to a Catholic religion was the only new implementation to the native vocabulary as a new religious vocabulary had to be constructed in order to encompass new concepts. == Comparison with other Polynesian languages ==

In terms of consonants, Mangarevan shares linguistic similarities with Cook Islands Māori, Paumotu, Tuamotoan, Rarotongan, as well as New Zealand Māori. One difference between Mangarevan and Marquesan, is that the consonant * became a glottal stop in Marquesan: for example, 'candlenut' is in Mangarevan, but in Marquesan. ==Notes==